The International Solar Alliance (ISA) and Bloomberg Philanthropies have joined forces to channel $1 trillion towards solar energy investment. These funds will be invested in ISA member nations, the majority of which are located in Africa.
The International Solar Alliance was launched on November 30, 2015, in Paris, by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the presence of former French President François Hollande at the 21st session of the United Nations Conference of the Parties on Climate Change (COP-21). About 120 heads of state and government pledged their support for the Alliance’s efforts to promote solar energy.
This news was made at the ISA annual general meeting, which was held from October 18 to 21, 2021, and at which the intergovernmental alliance announced a collaboration with Bloomberg Philanthropies, a philanthropic organization.
These investments will be made in all 80 ISA member countries of which World Resources Institute (WRI) will assist in the implementation of this partnership.
WRI President and CEO Ani Dasgupta said, “Despite the continent’s tremendous solar potential and a large number of people without access to energy, just 2% of solar investments go to Africa”.
He further revealed that for the millions of people who have been left behind, the raised fund must make solar investment a reality. To make this transformation possible, the alliance will identify opportunities for public-private sector collaboration and increased investment in solar energy.
Some developing countries, particularly those in Sub-Saharan Africa, are still struggling to fully utilize solar energy to enhance installed capacity and speed up rural power generation. This is due to a shortage of funding, which is slowing down the energy transition and electrification.
Michael R. Bloomberg, the United Nations Secretary-Special General’s Envoy for Climate Ambition and Solutions and founder of Bloomberg Philanthropies, calls for greater partnership between the public and private sectors, as well as more data to identify challenges and opportunities, to help accelerate investment in solar energy.
ISA’s Executive Director, Ajay Mathur, said, “The alliance has a key role to play in helping construct the infrastructure and ecosystem for a zero-carbon future. Our immediate goal is to find and mobilize opportunities and funds to advance our short- and long-term solarisation goals, with a strong base currently in place.”
According to estimates in the Scaling up Solar in ISA Member Countries report published briefly before the ISA Annual (Virtual) Meeting, 1.6 TW of global solar capacity will be installed by 2030, looking to attract roughly $1.2 trillion in new investment, assuming no major new climate change initiatives are implemented by policymakers.
Over the same time period, $151 billion in investment in solar energy storage will be required, resulting in 165 GW of storage capacity. According to the International Solar Alliance (ISA), the current global solar capacity is 788 GW.
At COP26 and in 2022, an action agenda and a plan for solar investment will be released, respectively. According to the International Solar Alliance, the action agenda, which will be released in a few weeks, will provide high-impact chances to swiftly scale up funding mechanisms to address solar technology needs in various countries.
The roadmap, which will be revealed in 2022, will offer the international community “concrete” benchmarks and criteria to track progress toward the $1 trillion investment goal.
